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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · game · rash · key · tube · land · court · file

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — in music
  4. game — a match
  5. file — a tool
  6. tube — the underground
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. land — ground
  9. key — for a lock
  10. game — wild animals
  11. tube — a container
  12. club — for dancing
  13. court — of law
  14. court — of a king
  15. file — a document
  16. court — for sport
  17. club — for golf
  18. club — a group
  19. rash — a series
  20. land — a country
  21. file — a line of people
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. land — to come down
  24. rash — on the skin

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com